إِنْ هَٰذَا إِلَّا خُلُقُ الْأَوَّلِينَ (137) وَمَا نَحْنُ بِمُعَذَّبِينَ (138) فَكَذَّبُوهُ فَأَهْلَكْنَاهُمْ ۗ إِنَّ فِي ذَٰلِكَ لَآيَةً ۖ وَمَا كَانَ أَكْثَرُهُم مُّؤْمِنِينَ (139) وَإِنَّ رَبَّكَ لَهُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الرَّحِيمُ (140) كَذَّبَتْ ثَمُودُ الْمُرْسَلِينَ (141) إِذْ قَالَ لَهُمْ أَخُوهُمْ صَالِحٌ أَلَا تَتَّقُونَ (142) إِنِّي لَكُمْ رَسُولٌ أَمِينٌ (143) فَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَأَطِيعُونِ (144) وَمَا أَسْأَلُكُمْ عَلَيْهِ مِنْ أَجْرٍ ۖ إِنْ أَجْرِيَ إِلَّا عَلَىٰ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ (145) أَتُتْرَكُونَ فِي مَا هَاهُنَا آمِنِينَ (146) فِي جَنَّاتٍ وَعُيُونٍ (147) وَزُرُوعٍ وَنَخْلٍ طَلْعُهَا هَضِيمٌ (148) وَتَنْحِتُونَ مِنَ الْجِبَالِ بُيُوتًا فَارِهِينَ (149) فَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَأَطِيعُونِ (150) وَلَا تُطِيعُوا أَمْرَ الْمُسْرِفِينَ (151) الَّذِينَ يُفْسِدُونَ فِي الْأَرْضِ وَلَا يُصْلِحُونَ (152) قَالُوا إِنَّمَا أَنتَ مِنَ الْمُسَحَّرِينَ (153) مَا أَنتَ إِلَّا بَشَرٌ مِّثْلُنَا فَأْتِ بِآيَةٍ إِن كُنتَ مِنَ الصَّادِقِينَ (154) قَالَ هَٰذِهِ نَاقَةٌ لَّهَا شِرْبٌ وَلَكُمْ شِرْبُ يَوْمٍ مَّعْلُومٍ (155) وَلَا تَمَسُّوهَا بِسُوءٍ فَيَأْخُذَكُمْ عَذَابُ يَوْمٍ عَظِيمٍ (156) فَعَقَرُوهَا فَأَصْبَحُوا نَادِمِينَ (157) فَأَخَذَهُمُ الْعَذَابُ ۗ إِنَّ فِي ذَٰلِكَ لَآيَةً ۖ وَمَا كَانَ أَكْثَرُهُم مُّؤْمِنِينَ (158) وَإِنَّ رَبَّكَ لَهُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الرَّحِيمُ (159)This is nothing but the creation of the ancients. (137) And We will not be tormented. (138) So, they rejected him, so We destroyed them. Indeed, in that is a sign, but most of them were not believers. (139) And indeed, your Lord is Almighty, Most Merciful (140) Thamud denied the messengers (141) When their brother Salih said to them, “Will you not fear God?” (142) Indeed, I am to you a trustworthy Messenger (143) so fear God and obey me (144) And I do not ask you for it any reward. My reward is only from the Lord of the Worlds (145) Will you be left safe in what is here? (146) In gardens and springs (147) And crops and palm trees, their pollen superimposed one on top of the other (148) And you hew out of the mountains magnificent houses (149) So fear God and obey (150) and do not obey the command of the extravagant (151) Those who make mischief on earth and do not reform (152) They said, “You are only one of those who are bewitched.” (153) You are but a human being like us, so bring a sign if you are of the truthful ones. (154) He said, “This is a camel. She has had something to drink, and you have something to drink on an appointed day.” (155) And do not touch it with any harm, lest the punishment of a great day overtake you. (156) So they mutilated it and became remorseful (157) Then the torment seized them. Indeed, in that is a sign, but most of them were not believers. (158) And indeed, your Lord is the Mighty, the Most Merciful. (159)
The Interpretation of Imam al-Tabari - may God have mercy on him
This which you have brought to us is nothing but a lie and the hadiths of the ancients.
And we will not be punished
So We destroyed Aad for denying Our Messenger. (Indeed, in that is a sign.) God Almighty says: Indeed, in Our destruction of Aad for denying her Messenger, as a lesson and an admonition to your people, O Muhammad, who disbelieve in what you have brought to them from your Lord.
(And indeed, your Lord is indeed Almighty) in His vengeance on His enemies, and (Merciful) to those who believe in Him.
Thamud denied the messengers
When their brother Salih said to them, “Won’t you be God-pious?”
God has sent me to you to warn you of His punishment for disobeying His command I am a faithful to His message which He sent with me to you.
So fear God (O people, and beware of His punishment) and obey me in my warning to you, and your Lord has commanded you to follow His obedience.
And I do not ask you for my advice to you and your warning of any reward or reward. (My reward is only with the Lord of the worlds.) He says: My reward and my reward, except against the Lord of all that is in the heavens, and on the earth, and all creation between them.
God Almighty says, telling him about what Saleh said to his people from Thamud: Will your Lord leave you, O people, in this world safe, not afraid of anything?
In orchards and springs of water.
And ripe crops and palm trees, If the palm tree bears a lot of weight and one of them overtakes the other, until some of it diminishes the other, then it is Hadeem.
And you carve clever houses out of the mountains
So fear God’s punishment, O people, for your disobedience to your Lord and your disobedience to His command and obey my advice to you and my warning to you, God’s punishment. Be guided.
God Almighty says, telling us about what Saleh said to his people from Thamud: Do not obey, O people, the command of those who are extravagant with their own selves in their persistence in disobeying God, and their audacity to seek His displeasure.
They are the nine people who were making mischief in the land, and were not righteous, from Thamud: And there were in Medina those who were striving in God’s earth with disobedience to Him, but they were not righteous. He says: And they did not reform themselves by working in obedience to God.
You are one of the creatures who make a living with food and drink like us, and you are neither a lord nor a king, so we obey you, and we know that you are truthful in what you say. The magician: the one who performs magicians, and he is the one who has magicians.
(You - O Saleh - are nothing but a human being like us) from the children of Adam. You eat what we eat, and drink what we drink, and you are neither a lord nor a king, so why should we follow you? If you are truthful in what you say, and that God has sent you to us (then bring a sign), meaning: as evidence and evidence that you are right in what you say, if you are among those who believe in his claim that God sent him to us.
Salih said to Thamud when they asked him for a sign by which they would know his sincerity, so he brought them a she-camel that he took out of a rock or a hill: This is a she-camel, O my people, she will have drink, and you will have the same amount of drink on another known day, what will you drink? On the day of her arrival, you are not permitted to drink any of her drinking, nor is she permitted to drink anything of yours on your day. By drinking, he means: the share and share of water. He says: She has a share of water, and you have the same.
Do not touch it with anything that would harm it, such as slaughter, killing, or the like.
God Almighty says, “So Thamud disobeyed the command of her Prophet Salih, may God bless him and grant him peace, so they slaughtered the she-camel that Salih had said to them: Do not harm her. They became regretful about slaughtering her, but their remorse did not benefit them.
In the destruction of Thamud because of what it did by slaughtering the she-camel of God, and other than that, the command of the Prophet of God is valid as a lesson for those of your people who consider it, O Muhammad. (And most of them were not believers) He says: And most of them will not believe in the foreknowledge of God.
(And indeed, your Lord, O Muhammad, is indeed Almighty in His vengeance on His enemies, Most Merciful) to those of His creation who believe in Him.
A view around the verses
This is nothing but the creation of the ancients. (137) And We will not be tormented. (138)
When their Prophet Hud - peace be upon him - blamed them, they said that they were following the past of their fathers, their creation and their religion, which is an excuse worse than sin. Why? We have previously said the famous English proverb (The third generation is born a gentleman), which means that subsequent generations must be better than the previous ones, But if they are equal or go to the past, then this is a reversal of common sense. There is no father who is of good nature but wishes that his son would be better than him. And they were not satisfied with that, but rather said (and we will not be tormented), which is an assumption that has no basis in validity. What do they rely on? This is how some of the wealthy, such as some of the powerful, because of their excessive power and the money in their hands, imagine that God is satisfied with them and is not satisfied with the poor, so He made them rich, so they imagine that this will continue there as well (in the afterlife) and that the afterlife has completely different rulings from the rulings of this world, then who is the one who I wonder to God, what guarantees are more important to them than this?
So they rejected him, so We destroyed them. Indeed, in that is a sign, but most of them were not believers. (139) And indeed, your Lord is the Mighty, the Most Merciful. (140)
They lied to him unjustly and aggressively, and not out of certainty, knowledge, and jurisprudence, so their destruction was decreed by God - the Almighty - neither force nor oppression nor superior ability to control the world benefited them in any way. Indeed, in that is a sign for every denier of the signs of God that they exist. In the previous, they are clear signs for whoever is saved from the believers, and it is an example for those who follow, and indeed your Lord is Almighty, Invincible, Merciful to His faithful servants at the time of salvation and in the Hereafter.
The story of Hood - peace be upon him - has ended and we have learned the following from it:
1 - Everything has an end. The tyrants, the arrogant, even the high-class buildings and architectural structures have an end. In the hadith, the Messenger - may God bless him and grant him peace - says: Do not beat your female slaves for breaking your vessels, for they have terms like yours. If the vessels have a term, then why do dwellings not? Yes, and it will be destroyed by an earthquake or a flood, or at the very least, as God Almighty said - so nothing remains of them except their homes) as evidence that they will pass through this life one day, and that their reconstruction will be the best of reconstruction.
2 - The story of Hud taught us that even the strong can have someone weaken him, but he must be defeated by that, and God conquers the unconquerable.
3 - The story of him - peace be upon him - taught us that reconstruction is not for eternity, but for the divine command: God Almighty said: (It is He who established you from the earth and settled you therein), so reconstruction is a matter not a choice.
4 - Do not be proud in this life, for the strong has a day when he becomes weak, even if this day is the day of his death. The people of Aad died with all their strength, power, and authority. They were not weakened before death, and this is the torment of eradication in previous nations, And sudden death in the nation of Muhammad - may God bless him and grant him peace. Therefore, the Messenger of God urged us to seek refuge from sudden death.
5 - The story of Hud - peace be upon him - taught us that the truthful is fine even if everyone mocks him. The consequence was for the truthful and not for the liars. It was for Hud who believed them, and they lied to him.
Thamud denied the messengers (141) when their brother Salih said to them, “Will you not fear God?” (142) Indeed, I am to you a trustworthy Messenger (143) so fear God and obey me (144) and I do not ask you for it any reward. My reward is only with the Lord of the Worlds (145)
Then the verses were transmitted to Muhammad - may God bless him and grant him peace and those of the Companions with him, while they were entertaining themselves about what was happening to them in this world, from the people of polytheism, from the people of hypocrisy, from the people of disbelief, and so on, God - the Almighty - recites to us each story after the story in order to entertain us from what we see as well, Sometimes from hypocrites and other times from unbelievers, life is full of painful events. Thamud denied the messengers, and God Almighty - in previous nations - sent them many messengers with the same religion, so their brother Salih said to them: Will you not fear: put a protection between you and the punishment of God, and the same heavenly methodology. (I am a messenger to you from God and I am entrusted with this message.) So, fear God and obey me, I will guide you to the path of goodness to your Lord, and I will not ask you for a reward, so my reward is for God, Lord of the worlds... Eternal and resonant words, and if we heard them today, we would stop our panting after the world for a moment, then panting again... The truthful one in this life has words whose effect will be known after a while.
Will you be left safe in what is here? (146) In gardens and springs (147) And crops and palm trees that placed overlapping one another, (148) And you hew out of the mountain's magnificent houses (149) So fear God and obey me (150)
Their brother Saleh - peace be upon him - said to them: Are you satisfied with the life of this world and the luxurious homes that you shelter in the mountains, and you are safe, and no one of the enemies around you is jealous of you, and you enjoy gardens and water springs that intersect these gardens, and crops of all kinds of fruits, if the fruit bearing is abundant? And they compound each other, so they are digestible. It is the pollen when it disperses and turns green, and it is an indication of abundance and a good life. After all these blessings, you carve luxurious houses from the mountains, and whoever lives in the mountains knows that carving them is not an easy thing, so what about the luxurious houses as God described them? Allah glory be to Him? Because the people of Thamud, like the people of Ad, were tall and of great shape, they were able to carve houses like this, and God is Most High and Most Knowing. Then he concluded his talk about the blessings they enjoy (So fear God and obey me), and before that he said to them: This is not for a reward, but for their own benefit.
And do not obey the command of the extravagant (151) Those who make corruption on earth and do not reform (152)
After enumerating for them the blessings in which they live and do not feel them, when a person is immersed in God’s blessings, he does not feel them at all until they are taken away from him, Only then does he know the value of blessings, but he - peace be upon him - directed them in a different direction in his advice to them: Do not obey the command of the extravagant, and the extravagant are the wasteful, exceeding the usual limit in spending permissible, or wasting money and spending it uselessly, It is as if he is saying to them: If you want to enjoy all the blessings that are available to you, do not be among the extravagant, that is, spend only in your refuges and do not be extravagant on those in need, In the narration: In every extravagance except doing good. Charitable money for the needy is not considered extravagance under any circumstances. then explain to them why they do not follow the command of the extravagant? Because they simply cause corruption on earth and are not reformers. What is corruption on earth then? From the context of the noble verses that are before us: They are not sins, but rather they are extravagance without merit. My dear brother: In every nation there are rich and poor, and these and those are tested. If you enjoy God’s blessings upon you while someone is dying of hunger next to you, you are not among the Muslims, you are not among us. Whoever goes to sleep full while his neighbor is hungry and he knows it, then you give, even a little, to plead with your Lord and the obligation will be dropped from your shoulders.
And they are not reformers
It is as if he who does not only corrupt is not what is required of the Lord of the Worlds, but you must be a reformer in what is around you, and reform means: There is corruption and you are trying to reform it, These are the reformers, but do not forget the three circles (with his hand - with his tongue and then with his heart, which is the weakest of faith). Do not let yourself be overtaken by greed and reform what is not due from you, so you transgress against people unjustly.
They said, “You are only one of those who are bewitched.” (153) You are but a human being like us, so bring a sign if you are of the truthful ones. (154)
We had agreed that: If the compelling argument is invalidated, rudeness, insults, cursing, and accusations emerge, so they accused Saleh - peace be upon him - of being bewitched, and this is impudence, and a good argument did not bring them any good.
You are only human like us
Calling every unbelieving people to their Prophet. Know, my dear brother, whoever wants will believe, even if all the reasons are not prepared for him, and whoever wants will disbelieve, even if he is in an environment that protects him and teaches him the religion with a spoon. The heavenly religions are not taken with a spoon, but rather they are taken with common sense and guidance.
Then bring a sign if you are of the truthful.
And when he brings a miracle, they will not believe either, but it is a kind of wasting time on the enemy. Saleh - peace be upon him - has become their enemy. He reminds them of what they do not want to remember, Blessings and blasphemy in one crucible, and no matter how long she lives, she will not succeed.
He said, “This is a camel. She has had a drink, and you have a drink on an appointed day.” (155)
Saleh, peace be upon him, came to them with a miracle (the verses here are quick in Surah Ash-Shu’ara), which was a great she-camel, Ashra’, and he told them that she has a day on which she drinks from the lake, and you are the day after that, and do not drink on the same day on which she drinks, and it is a kind of test. They will not fail God - Blessed and Most High - and do not deny Him and leave them alone, for He is the All-Knowing - Glory be to Him - All-Knowing of what is in their souls. Indeed, if you bring to him the dust of the earth signs of the truth of what you have brought, he will not believe, so the outcome is zero.
And do not touch it with any harm, lest the punishment of a great day overtake you. (156)
Among their tests: that they do not harm her, so imagine the scene: a she-camel over a short period of time gives birth, and the she-camel among the Arabs is in a place, and she moves in the midst of them all, and drinks the water of an entire lake in a day, and it is forbidden for them to drink with her, so their anger was aroused, so they slaughtered her and they became remorseful (157 )
In other verses in another surah: It says that they were 3 men, and one of them drank alcohol until he was drunk and then slaughtered her, and he did not care about God’s command that they not harm her. They became regretful, why? Perhaps they still had some kind of fear that the words of Salih - peace be upon him - were true and that they might be subjected to great torment, which is what happened a while.
Then the torment seized them. Indeed, in that is a sign, but most of them were not believers.
(158) And indeed, your Lord is the Mighty, the Most Merciful. (159)
This is one of the signs of God Almighty: The One who cannot be defeated, the One who conquers His enemies at the appointed time when they have become more tyrannical and hostile to the truth, and He is the Most Merciful to His faithful servants, for He is Most Merciful of this world and the Hereafter, but He is Merciful to His faithful servants only when they are saved, and also on the Day of Resurrection, and God is Most High and All-Knowing.
The story of Saleh (the people of Thamud) has ended and we can benefit from it as follows:
1 - Blessings are a provision from God - the Almighty, and the one who was given did not give it to you or withhold from others except to test you with the blessing. Will it overwhelm you? Or does it make you thank the Benefactor, and he does not need to thank you? So, stop saying, “Praise be to God,” and the matter is over. Rather, it is the obligatory gratitude, in matters in which you fail the entire nation.
2 - It is said to cut blessings with scissors of gratitude, because blessings have wings and if you do not clip them, they will fly to others. In the hadith: If a blessing flees from a people, it rarely returns to them.
3 - The signs of God - do not be underestimated - do not mock them and do not ridicule them. If you see in the sky signs of the appearance of angels, do not be sarcastic, and if you see a person from whom you learn to be righteous and you see God defending him repeatedly, then do not mock and be arrogant, for you are thus like a righteous people (hammering a she-camel). God) and slaughtering a she-camel, or standing in front of the signs of God, has dire consequences.
4 - Saleh’s story taught us that blessings last for those who are humble, who are not extravagant except in goodness. Only those who are reformers are the ones for whom blessings last.